I would like to share five comments on President Obama's speech before the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism.

1. President Obama defines "violent extremism" in this manner:

By “violent extremism,” we don’t just mean the terrorists who are killing innocent people. We also mean the ideologies, the infrastructure of extremists --the propagandists, the recruiters, the funders who radicalize and recruit or incite people to violence. We all know there is no one profile of a violent extremist or terrorist, so there’s no way to predict who will become radicalized. Around the world, and here in the United States, inexcusable acts of violence have been committed against people of different faiths, by people of different faiths -- which is, of course, a betrayal of all our faiths. It's not unique to one group, or to one geography, or one period of time.

Earlier this week, I made the case that unless President Obama's Summit on Countering Violent Extremism would be a complete waste of time unless he was willing to state that the violent extremism we are trying to counter is caused by an ideology based on Islam subscribed to by a small, but critical mass of Muslims.

Well, President Obama has penned an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times and nothing he has written inspires confidence. Here are five observations of the op-ed.

The Obama Administration has chosen to treat the fight against terrorism as a community service project, imploring ISIS radicals to give up their violent Jihad in order to take a minimum wage job as a district IKEA manager in Syria or something. While that seems to misunderstand a basic principle of Jihad itself, the Obama Administration — and in particular, the State Department — seem rather pleased that they've discerned this winning strategy, sort of like how a two-year-old feels the first time he or she makes an appropriate deposit in a plastic potty chair.

Faced with quizzical looks from across the spectrum of media, State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf took to CNN to explain the theory behind her proclamation that ISIS is driven primarily by unemployment, and if they only had real jobs, well, they'd be less likely to run rivers of blood into the Gulf. No, her explanation did not outline the more nuanced aspects of her theory. No, she did not offer evidence to support the idea. She merely posited that she was right and everyone complaining about her complete lack of situational understanding was just bereft of the intellect required to understand her.

While tens of Elizabeth Warren's most dedicated supporters were meeting over veggies and ranch dressing in quiet mid-western living rooms, to discuss how best to support their chosen candidate's inevitable progressive crusade against Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren herself was pow-wowing (as Elizabeth Warren is wont to do) with Hillary Clinton in her well-appointed DC living room.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, fresh off her appearance at the 2015 Grammy Awards, thinks she's doing a bang-up job at being part of Florida's Congressional delegation.

She thinks she's so good, it seems that, later this year, when she inevitably steps down from her position as DNC chair, a job she's done so well that a 2016 nominating convention in Philadelphia will be her crowning achievement, she's considering going from a mere Congressional Representative to being a Senator, after Florida's current, more talented Senator, Marco Rubio, steps down from his role in order to run for President.

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair, is strongly considering a bid for U.S. Senate, calculating that having Hillary Clinton at the top of the 2016 ticket would help lift her candidacy in a year-of-the-woman campaign.

The New York Yankees have more non-working numbers than Ma Bell. The team has most recently announced that three more uniform numbers are going on the shelf permanently, those worn by Bernie Williams (51), Andy Pettitte (46), and Jorge Posada (20).

These are all worthy players, but all short of Hall of Fame credentials. And Pettitte didn’t even spend his entire career with the Pin Stripes. So, with no disrespect meant to these three fine ballplayers, it’s reasonable to ask, where does this stop? And at a certain point, what will the Yankees do for uniform numbers for current players?

Before this week’s announcement, the Yankees has already retired 18 uniform numbers, including all of the single digits (They’re all here if you’re curious — Derek Jeter’s #2 isn’t on the list yet but soon will be). Now the team is up to 21 numbers off the training table.

The article, co-written by Andrew Higgins and Melissa Eddy, begins by quoting a Danish sociologist named Aydin Soei who had met Hussein while studying Danish inner cities in 2008 which eventually led to a book called Angry Young Men:

As the authorities across Europe try to figure out how radical Islam turns a tiny but dangerous minority of young Muslims into terrorists, Mr. Soei, the sociologist, said that Mr. Hussein, 22, was an exemplar of a phenomenon of Europe’s urban neighborhoods, not a product of the teachings of the Quran or their distortions by militant preachers.

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